


Orange Lotus

by VincentxYuffie666



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24621334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VincentxYuffie666/pseuds/VincentxYuffie666
Summary: A monstrous sea dwelling Grimm has separated team RNJR. Ren thinks Nora is dead. How different will he act around her once he finds her, realising that the one thing he has always had is very much alive? Nora felt so very alone in this time, thinking that she'll never see him again. Her hopes brighten again when she sees that handsome face once again. RenxNora. Slight JaunexRuby. OC hinted. (Rated M for violence and adult themes)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the RWBY Characters. They belong to RoosterTeeth. (I suggest that if anyone wants to complain about layout, grammar and my style; please read my main page bio. What comes; comes... sorry)

Okay so the story will be set on a random storyline, don't complain if it doesn't go how you'd like it to. I'm not sure what I have planned for this fanfic yet but I'll try and make it interesting. My RWBY info is a little rusty so don't judge me wrong if I name something wrong ahaha :P Anyway, the main focus is Ren and Nora with a small side dish of Jaune and Ruby here and there. The story will take place 2 years AFTER Beacon's fall; if you don't like how the story goes or what happens then... oh well. I know not everyone will like it and that's fine by me.

Just as a little teaser; I will be adding in a purely made up Grimm for parts of the storyline, you'll see the first teaser during this chapter. Team RNJR have been split up by somethng big... big and powerful enough to split the very land itself. For more details; read the story ;D (Chapter One mainly focuses on what goes on before the large Grimm's encounter, sorry if it won't be very exciting BUT; there'll be some Renora moments in there for you ;D but if you feel it's going too fast; don't worry it's meant to go that way so just enjoy it, it's only a teaser anyway)

Note:

The 2 years will take place during the first and second chapter). Not every part of the story will be cheerfully filled with Renora and there will be drama but I can promise it will be a happy ending through all the rough patches that'll be encountered. Chapter One will take place a year after Beacon, explaining how they became seperated by the large Grimm (I can't promise it will be a big chapter...) AAAAANYWAAAY; without any more stalling; please enjoy, like and follow if you want a notice for when the next chapter comes out ;) (Chapter Two focuses on their struggles apart from the others)

-xx-

Orange Lotus

-xx-

Chapter One - How It Happened

-xx-

It had been a year since Beacon fell, teams RWBY and JNPR had become split and formed the new RNJR, having left to continue on their search of the criminal masterminds behind it all. However, their attempts had left to almost all but dead ends... whatever leads they had found turned up little information and the team had found themselves on yet another cold trail. They walked for days.. weeks.. on end with little rest after leaving their last safe sleep at a town inn, taking refuge in any seemingly safe place they could to just rest and find whatever food they could whether it was hunting small mammals or taking a risk with strange yet delicious looking fruit. Their rations for the trip to the next village had ran out almost a week past and they were starting to feel a little drained from lack of refreshments. Either way, they had managed to pull through the tough times of travelling, risking life and limb to protect both themselves and their friends through the thick of hoards of vicious Grimm and often or not thugs out on the roads looking for travellers to attack and steal from; which was currently happening. Although the thugs weren't exactly an effort to fight, they certainly made it an annoyance to shake off as the four members of RNJR used their efforts into just throwing them off of them and away until they gave up, but patience was starting to slip...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH NOOOO PLEAAASE!" a scream cries loudly out into the thick forest of leaves of many colors; the season of Autumn was coming into it's first swing. The team had ended up splitting up to chase the attackers off, scaring them away and stopping, turning their heads towards the loud scream and insantly bolting off into the direction it came from. A loud maniacal cackle giggled out into the air as loud crashing thuds sound out every few seconds "SOMEONE PLEASE!" the cry sounded out again before a spine chilling screech filled the air. The head of the mighty Magnhild had come crashing down just inches away from the terrified thugs face, cracking the vewy ground and just barely touching his nose as he cowers in fear in a pathetic ball on the ground, face wet with tears as a pair of very angry sky blue eyes glare down at him, lifting the heavy weapon up as if it were a feather "YOU. DRIVE. ME. CRAZY!" the angry Nora yelled out "all it's been for the last one hour is grab and throw GRAB AND THROW AND GROPE! WEEEELLL IIII'VE HAAAD EEEENOOOUGH!" she snapped, slamming the hammer down onto the same spot again which earned another spine chilling screech of terror.

Ruby, Jaune and Ren had just arrived to see the man curl into an even tighter ball, cowering like the pathetic thug they were, having heard how acidic her word were; each one of them laced thick with icy death. Jaune stared with a mixture of wonder yet pure fear of the orange haired woman's obvious temper coming out while Ruby watched on with innocent confusion. Ren gave a small sigh "Nora" he tried, but the woman was already ranting again "OH AND TO MAKE THINGS EVEN MORE PUT TO THE POINT!" she started, dropping the weapon and grabbing the cowering body, holding him up easily which made them squeak out in fright, turning paler and paler as her face got close to his and half whispered in a very angry tone "learn to touch a lady with respect!" she hissed out, throwing the poor thug into the tree before glaring once more and picking Magnhild up, storing it away and making a "HMPH" before crossing her arms and looking away "Nora? Are you okay?" a voice asked; this time she turned around, causing Ren to give a slight, hard to notice, flinch at the glare she shot, which soon faded into a far softer and warmer gaze as she gave him her most cheerful smile to try and reasure her green wearing friend that she'll be fine before skipping off back down the path. The others watched her cautiously and confused before looking at each other and sighed. Ruby hurried after the powerful woman and Jaune hesitantly followed after.

Ren, however, remained back for a few moments; magenta eyes glared down on the cowering and weeping form before kicking a nearby pebble into the mans face who gave a pained yelped and held his face in pain. Ren turns and walks off, following the rest of his team. He highly disliked men mistreating women, and hearing Nora complain about 'groping' he could only assume that particular thug had tried his luck and managed to get a hand or two touching her womanly areas and it made his temper rise slightly. However, he would quickly calm as he caught up and returned to his usual self, falling in step next to the cheerfully skipping Nora who had a huge smile on her face as if nothing just happened. His eyes scanned her face closely, trying to find any signs of distress still there but he would be given what he needed when she looked at him; seeing the concerned look he was giving and she grins cheerfully at him. Relaxing fully, he gave her a small rare smile in return as their focuses went back onto the path ahead. Even a year later, they were as close as ever.

Jaune and Ruby were a small distance behind them, still a little cautious of the unpredictable Nora "so uh... yeah... remind me not to get on Nora's bad side..." Jaune said nervously and Ruby gave a small giggle at him and a sweet smile "it's okay, Jaune. She may be scary but I don't think she'd hurt us if one of us angered her... maybe..." came the reply and the blonde slouched with a huff "you know... that 'maybe' doesn't really help, Ruby..." he mumbles and she only gave him an innocent smile "... sorry?" she questions, tilting her head to the side slightly "oh come on Jaune! At least they won't be bothering us for a while... that one back there certainly won't be. I'm sure Nora won;'t be getting angry any time soon" she tried to reassure him and he straightened himself up slightly "yeah... yeah you're probably right" he responds, giving her an unsure smile but thankful that she's trying to help calm his shakey nerves down. The pair had grown rather fond of each others company over the past year; talking to each other more when they needed advise or comfort over something and they had formed a close friendship out of it, although he did have to admit with himself... her innocent ways were quite adorable and her passion for the fight and the use of weapons gave her a rather deadly appeal in nature, sort of like Nora but not as psychopathic as the orange haired woman. Ruby gave him her brightest smile and sped up to catch up with the others and Jaune gave a soft smile at her, following.

The team had finally decided to pick up their pace in order to find a safe resting spot to spend the night, but instead they found the next village further up. With all but Ren jumping up and down in pure joy, the entire team ran for the town while Ruby and Jaune decided to make a game of it and see who could run the fastest out of them both without cheating, both laughing and trying to outmatch the other in speed. Ren and Nora would remain at their usual pace, watching the pair with their game as they gave each other a questioning look; having not seen them get so excited and challenging towards each other. Nora giggled and smiled at the playful pair as she kept in pace next to Ren who watched on with the usual serious expression, only directing his gaze to her when she gave him a light push and started hopping circles around him; earning a furrowing brow at her but she would just poke her tongue out and poked the tip of his nose with the famous "boop" before running ahead before he had the chance to catch her wrist. She gave a squeak of delight when she saw him speed up to give chase, making it nearing impossible to catch her; having always been more faster and tired out far less easier.

Even with her energy levels nearing an all time low she still managed to keep out of hands reach, giggling at the failing attempts. He would play back sometimes, which she absolutelty adore and had only been caught once, this time would be the second as she felt his firm hand grab onto her shoulder and she stopped with a huff, it would be pointless fighting back against the weakness in her legs caused by him touching her and he stopped as well "I win, now... let's continue" he said, walking on ahead calmly as they finally reached the border of where the town stopped. Nora would smile and follow, even though he was being all serious about it she knew he enjoyed it, cherishing those few moments dearly as she does with every rare, handsome, smile he gave. The town they arrived at looked like a harbour town; nestled right against the ocean. The town itself didn't seem to have much to ofer but it had two places they desperately seeked; food and an inn to sleep in. Ruby cheered in delight and ran for the cafe that was just ahead of them and Nora giggled; following instantly. Ren and Jaune gave a relaxed sigh and walked after them "FINALLY!" both girls cheer out, ordering a filling meal while a confused and cautious waitress noted down everything they wanted.

Ren and Jaune found them all a table and sat down as they waited, Ruby and Nora finally leaving the nervous waitress alone to join them and the shakey woman would slowly walk over to take the men's orders. As usual Ren didn't order much but Jaune decided to make a bigger order than usual and watched the waitress hurry off quickly "I think she's scared of us" Nora said, tapping her chin in thought "well... I think if I was a woman who just got surrounded by two women weilding weapons and phychotic hyperness suddenly firing requests for a meal order just suddenly popped up in my face, I think I would be too" Jaune stated, earning a proud grin from Nora and a smile from Ruby. They would continue to give light chatter as they waited for their orders, ate, paid and then slumped into their seats; all satisfied of finally having a full stomach. After they had relaxed for aseveral moments for their meals to go down they left the small cafe and headed to the inn, only to find out they had no rooms with four beds; only one single, two single, or double bedded rooms. Talking amongst themselves they decided that they would choose rooms with two single beds, prefferring to at least have someone there to talk to as they fell asleep and since Nora refused to be without Ren as always it had left Jaune to share a room with Ruby as both pairs recieved their keys and headed for their rooms; sharing their goodnights to each other as they split.

Delighted squeals came from Nora as she jumps up and down on the bed after leaving the shower room and had changed into comfy pajamas. Thankfully they were still fresh from the last town, since the group never wore their bed clothes while camping out. With a giggle she throws herself down on the comfy bed with a content sight as she laid there in silence, wondering how long Ren would be in the shower room. She watched the ceiling with her sky blue eyes in thought; they had gone through so much in the past year as team RNJR and it had only brought them all closer and the thought put a happy smile on her face as she gave a content sigh. After several moments she felt her eyes getting heavy, feeling too lazy to want to get up and lay on the bed properly and to get under the blanket even though the chilly harbour night was stinging at her skin; feeling far too comfortable to move as she slowly dozed off in the haphazard sprawl across the bed.

Ren left the shower room several moments after she had dozed off, rolling his eyes slightly at his orange haird friend. He was dressed in simple trousers and shirt and rubbed at his wet hair with a towel, half expecting the hyperactive woman to bounce back awake any moment as she usually would but seeing that she was most likely dead to the world he watched her for a few moments, wondering if she even felt cold or if she was even comfortable considering how sloppy her current position was. Giving out a sigh he stands and walked over, slowly and carefully picking her up and placing her into a far more comfortable position and pulled the blanket over her so she wouldn't freeze over night, earning light mumbles in her sleep when the warmth of his hands left her body. As he was turning to walk back to his own bed a hand grabbing his lightly made him jump quite noticeably as he looked to her; her eyes half open with a tired and affection filled smile plastered her face as she whispered "goodnight, Ren" before letting him go and slumping back into sleep. Ren held back a small chuckle "goodnight, Nora" he replied. Even if he didn't smile, she could hear the care in his voice and her smile grew wider as she slipped into sleep more. Ren decided to waste no time and crawled into his own bed, getting comfortable and almost instantly passed out from lack of energy.

In the other room, Ruby was busy polishing her weapon while Jaune lazed on his bed; thinking of what they could do for their next course of action "I think we'll stay here for a few days before we cross to the next place" he spoke up, Ruby looking up in question "what will we do here?" she asks and Jaune sat up "just relax I guess, give a helping hand if anyone needs it. We need the rest, that last travel took a lot out of us all. At least by doing this we have enough time to rest up and restock on what we need" came his reply and Ruby gave a smile "sounds great!" she agreed, returning to cleaning her scythe free from the remains of Grimm guts from previous fights "hey Jaune... while I'm at this do you want me to clean up and sharpen your sword and shield for you?" she offers and Jaune thought for a moment before nodding "yeah, sure. Thanks Ruby" he said, laying back as he thought more, watching the ceiling. As offered, Ruby took his weapon and shield after she had finished with her own weapon, beginning to clean and sharpen with a smile.

"Jaune... what do you think about those rumours about that huuuuuge Grimm that's apparantly been sighted?" she questions "to tell you the truth it sounds horrifying... if it truly is as vicious, large and dangerous as the rumours say... I honestly wouldn't know how to feel fully unless I saw it for myself" came his reply and Ruby thought for a few moments "I think... it will be worth a fight!" she chimed, throwing a fist up into the air to show her confidence and Jaune gave her a soft smile "well... at least you're not afraid of having a challenge" he said, chuckling slightly, earning a giggle from the innocent woman as she continues her work on his sword and shield "they're only as scary as you think they are" she said, sheathing the now cleaned and sharpened sword and placing a now clean shield back by where she took them from "but... Nora's still scarier than any Grimm" she joked, giggling at the stare she was given and a slightly paling face from Jaune "y-yeah... you're right with that one..." he got out, chuckling nervously "uh yeah. ahah... far more scary" he mumbles, sighing and getting comfortable "well, anyway we should get some rest, goodnight Ruby" he said, rolling to his side and began dozing off. Ruby said goodnight back and had gotten under the blanket of her own bed, instantly falling asleep.

-xx-

A full day later

-xx-

Team RNJR had slept an entire day and night away, even Nora had slept a day and night away! The orange haired woman was the first awake out of them all though and she was now sat on Ren's belly after slowly and quietly moving onto his bed. He's laying on his back and completely unaware until a finger poking at the tip of his nose stirred him from sleep and he cracked a groggy eye open "...?" Nora giggled at him and poked again "boop!- AHH" her grin was instantly wiped from her face and her face had now turned a heavy shade of red as she found herself being pushed onto her back with her legs spread lazily either side of his. He was on hands and knees above her for a moment before he moved up to just his knees and crossed his arms as he watched her, still half asleep "Nora... what are you doing?" he asks with a light yawn and she giggled slightly, prodding her index fingers together "um... well... you were asleep and, well I mean OBVIOUSLY you were asleep and I was awake first and it sounds like the others aren't awake yet and I thought maybe I could see how many times I could poke your nose before you woke up and I poked maybe 20 times and now you're awake and-" "Nora... I get it, you're bored and now I'm awake... please, let me wake up fully" he said, making her face turn even redder as he idly, without even passing a second thought, placed his hands on her legs and moved them away so he could get off the bed, shuffling off into the bathroom.

Nora blank a few times then sat up 'what was that all about? That's new...' she thought, thinking on it for a few moments and shrugged it off to cool her face down, trying not to think too much on it but she only found herself staring off into space with a smile. She couldn't describe how that felt, but it certainly made her feel full of energy but the moment was short lived and the sound of him returning to the room broke her from her thoughts as a now more awake Ren walked into the room "get dressed, we're going to have a look at the area and then we'll need to start getting the things we need" he said, checking over his Stormflower before sitting on the bed and waiting as Nora grins and ran off into the bathroom; jumping back out in what seemed like ten seconds flat and fully dressed as she skipped across the room to him and stood at the edge of the bed, bouncing on her heels as she waits. She grins at him as he stared at her before standing and walking for the door, Nora right at his side.

Two hours later everyone met up, walking along the streets towards the docks after having stocked up, found a map and found zero information on Torchwicks remaining goons. They found out some very interesting information, however, on the long stretch of rocky land connecting this continent to the next and either side the ocean could be seen on the massive rock path; which they saw once they reached the docks. They were told to pass through with cautioun if they were to take their next step in their journey across it... the land was extremely unstable with vast water filled caves and tunnels underneath the entire stretch and several spots on the top had large pits that often shot gaysers of ice cold sea water through whenever the weather turned severe. Years and years of rough weather had weakened the rocky bridge of land greatly and it was classed as a high alert danger zone that could take upto two days to cross "WWOOOOW I CAN SEE FOREEEVEEER!" came Nora's cheerful shout, all three heads looking to the side but saw nothing, then looked up to see her perched at the top of a pole "looks like some fog rolling in HOT ON TWELVE O CLOCK!" she giggled out.

Jaune shook his head and smiled while Ruby gave a giggle at the cheerful woman. Ren watched in the usual serious and observant way, concerned she could fall from the slither of pole top she was resting on with one foot. Seeing that she seemed to have good balance his gaze turned in the direction she was looking; seeing the thick fog starting to come into the land "well... best watch where we step. That fog looks very thick" he said calmly and Jaune nods in agreement "well in that case, I'm going to go and get some extra supplies. I'll see you guys back at the inn" Jaune said, walking off "I'll come and help" Ruby said, following after him. Ren looked up to Nora again, only to see her missing from the pole and noticed her now running off down one of the long docks in delight as he followed. His concerns rise again when he could see the waves were becoming more vicious as powerful winds had started drifting onto the docks and the fog was now making itself known "Nora.. I don't think we should be out here with this fog coming in" he called "oh shush it'll be fine!" she called back cheerfully, stopping right at the end of the pier.

She leans over slightly to view the lightly crashing waves as she tip toed ever so lightly with arms stretched out aiming backwards a little "wow this is really high up!" she said as Ren began jogging towards her at seeing her silly actions "NORA GET AWAY FROM THE EDGE!" he yelled out, sounding both worried and angry but she just looked over her shoulder with a smile, turning around to move away but her smile left her face and was replaced with a startled wide eyed expression as she felt her feet slipping from under her and she felt herself falling backwards. It all happened within seconds and her expression became fear filled as the now terrifying reality of her falling into towards dangerous water was alerting every sense in her body, shutting her eyes tight and letting out a scream, waiting to be swallowed up by the lightly raging waves. Grabbing out for whatever she could out of pure instinct she felt the small drop come to a sudden end and a strong arm wrapped itself very firmly around the middle of her back while her hands cling onto a torso for dear life.

Opening her eyes slowly she saw a worried Ren holding onto a single Stormflower which had it's blade rammed deep into the pier's wood and he used all his strength to pull himself and her back up to safety, shakily dragging her up with him and pulling her away from the edge of the pier as her body shook rather violently in his hold. She tried to give him a smile but it was quickly gone when his magenta eyes stared at her quite angrily as he pulled her up to her feet "Nora!" he snapped, earning a flinch from her and a puppy dog eyed stare as she hunched her shoulders slightly. The look struck him hard upside the head 'idiot... she's scared enough by herself already don't add to it!' he thought to himself, heaving out a deep sigh and trying to calm his anger, watching her as she casts her gaze downwards sadly "Nora..." came a softer voice and she looked up slightly, feeling shamed at herself for letting herself become so helpless and for angering her best friend, it took so much to make his mood come out and it looked like she struck a bad nerve this time and it scared her 'please don't hate me' she thought over and over as she watched with the same expression.

Ren looked away for a moment to pull the single Stormflower from the wood and put the weapon away before turning back to her, blinking to see she wasn't there and panicked slightly before noticing she was already walking off back down the pier "well done, Ren..." he mumbled to himself, walking after her "Nora, stop" he said sternly and she responded obediently, squeaking as she felt him turn her around suddenly by the shoulders "look at me" came the stern voice again and she slowly looked up with the same sorrow and shame filled eyes and it struck him even harder at seeing her look so... not Nora. He sighs again "look... I'm sorry I got mad, but you just worried me so much... Nora please, don't ever do something like that again..." he said, trying to defuse the bad atmosphere "what would I ever do if I lost you...? Falling into raging water, even as light as that water, will give you hardly any chance of surviving let along fighting against it's strength and you know that.." he stated "I'm sorry..." she mumbled, casting her gaze downwards again and slipped her arms around him, pulling him close in attempt to show she's not going anywhere and he just gave another sigh, a less annoyed one this time as he gently stroked her head a few times while keeping the other hand rested on her shoulder "it's...- don't worry about it. Just don't worry me like that ever again, got it? Or.. I'll uh" he stopped for a moment, thinking before saying "I'll have to make pancakes for someone else" he said, trying to at least bring the Nora he knew out from the sad shell currently hiding her away.

"NO! I'll behave I'll behave!" Nora cries out into his chest "no one will dare take a pancake from you but me!" she said in a muffled, yet very challenging, voice; clinging to him even tighter and almost squeazing the breath right out of him. Luckily he was used to her powerful holds and just gave a slight chuckle "good.. now come on, it's not safe to be on the pier in fog and winds like this" he said, trying to pry her off but it didn't work fully and she was now clung to his arm with no signs of letting go any time soon with sky blue eyes watching him and an adorable smile spread across her slightly rosey cheeks. Ren couldn't help but give her a soft smile at her adorable ways, also happy that she had bounced back from her sorrow filled mood, leading her off the pier and back to more safer areas. Nora would be stuck to him like glue for the entire time they wander around the harbour town; ignoring the stares they recieved as they make their way back to the inn to meat with the others. These looks were so very common, he had become so used to this happening to him where he would walk around with the hyperactive, orange haired, hammer swinging maniac that it had become normal for him and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Nora would giggle at him as she poked at his nose and face, earning a stare from him in warning to stop but she knew full well he would tolerate this all day and night from her if he had to. He'd be lying if he said he hated it; he adored seeing her as her cheerful and bright self and Nora... well she adored him regardless of what he was like and that's what he liked the most about his orange haired friend; she was willing to give him her unconditional affection regardless of how he was... even when he got angry with her and ended up scaring her off momentarily, which had happened several times in their life but it was so rare and they always became closer after it. Neither of them could possibly imagine what life would be without the other, nor how they would deal with that; little did they know that would be happening a lot sooner than they knew...

Giving a huge, bright smile her finger poked his nose on that one spot that always made him blink "boop!" they were near the inn now and Nora made him stop dead in his tracks by asking "Ren... you'll always be there for me... right...?". Her stopping in her walk wasn't what stopped him; it was the seriousness in her not so cheer filled question and he turned his gaze to her and their eyes lock. He took a few moments to respond to her and made her almost jump out of her skin as his finger poked her right at the tip of her nose, sending sparks right down her spine as she let go of his arm with a slightly reddened face and shock filled eyes. He gave a slight chuckle, secretely finding that look extremely cute, and walked off ahead of her "well I have you to take care of, don't I?" came his reply and Nora gave a light squeal of joy, throwing her arms into the air and skipped after him, arms flopping to her side as she caught up, clinging to his arm once more with the brightest smile he had seen her give for an entire month.

Inside the inn, Jaune was busy pacing his and Ruby's rented room while she giggled at him trying to say something to her but getting himself muddled up horrificly bad "I mean, how do I say 'like'? as in, I like, or I like like... like?" he groaned at himself and continued, seeming to momentarily forget that Ruby was now almost in tears laughing at him, rolled onto her side while holding her stomach and pointing at him, which suddenly stopped into an innocent smile as she sat up instantly "HEY!" he yelled, sulking as she stiffled giggles at him and while he waved his arms about which only added to her childish amusement "I'm trying to say something serious to you and you're laughing at me!" he complained, sulking even more "Jaune you just keep repeating one word" Ruby giggled out at him, squealing out the laughter she was holding back while falling to her back and holding her stomach again as he pouts at her.

How could he stay mad at her...? She was just so innocent and clearly having a great time despite it being at his own expense. He just sighs and gives a smile even though he felt defeated with himself at trying to even express how he felt, watching her as she slowly burns herself out of laughter and sat up, wiping her eyes away of tears caused by the intense laughing fit "okay okay... try again" she said, stiffling weak giggles when she got a half playful glare from him and he stood, walking to her and crossing his arms as he stood in front of her "are you going to start laughing again if I do?" he asks and Ruby grins "only if you start ranting with yourself again" came her reply and Jaune huffs "fiiiine... I'm trying to say I- uhh... forgot to get... a..- why are you staring at me like that?" he asks, unnerved by Nora who had just flung their door wide open and started staring at them quite blankly "weeeeeellllllllll it loooooks like you guys are doing something dirty so BYE BYE NOW" she finally spoke, apparantly Ruby's back was facing the door and at least head height to his lower torso while sat down and the view was rather... suggestive considering his face was a light shade of pink at the time. Ren just connects his the palm of his hand to his face and sighs, grabbing her arm to prevent her from leaving "really, Nora?" he mumbles.

She gave a grin at his obvious embarrassment at her rude joke and poor Jaune had turned so red he ended up turning around and threw himself onto the other bed face first. Ruby just tilts her head, confused "Aw I broke Jaune" Nora complained, both her and Ruby stare at each other before bursting out into laughter at the poor man. Ren just closes the door and watched this all unfold from a corner of the room, he found it amusing but no one else knew that "so... are you going to get up off of your face and tell us our plans while we stay here or... are you going to continue suffocating yourself?" he asks, watching as the blonde lifts his head up with a groan as both women finally cool down with their laughter. With a huff, Jaune turned and sat on the edge of the bed, glaring at a grinning Nora who felt quite successful at breaking Jaune's brain; which she had tried hard to do for some time now "alright well... we'll stay here for another day before we head out across that rocky path to the other side and see if we can find anything else out on those goons" he started, everyone focusing on him as they listened closely.

"once we reach the village on the other side we'll spend several days there depending on what sort of information we get, but honestly I'm starting to think they're all gone..." Jaune continued "whether still as a group or not, we still need to find the remaining ones and make sure they don't rise up and become even worse than Roman or that Falls woman" Ren spoke up, both Ruby and Nora nodding in agreement "I'll search forever if I have to! THERE'S STILL SOME LEGS TO BE BROKEN!" Nora said cheerfully, a fist held up into the air and Ruby grins, joining in "YEAH!" she chimed in and Jaune sighs some, smiling at them "well... we'll continue looking until we reach the other side of the continent. If we find nothing I suggest we just turn back on our steps and just think about going home until something else comes up for us to fight..." Jaune said "I can agree a little on that. If we can't find anything on them by the time we reach the other end there's not much else we can do. Besides, it would be nice to settle down somewhere for a little while, all this travelling is nice but it would still be nice to sit down for a long time and not have to do any searching for anything" Ren joined in.

Nora and Ruby both agreed as well, but Nora loved adventure the most... but she wouldn't give up being by Ren for any adventure. She knew full well that if he decided to go on a different path she would be right at his side skipping along, it's not like she has a home to go to... 'home' to her was by his side every step of the way like it has always been.

Since the fog had become too thick to even see more than a centimetre outside, the team decided to just relax in the one room and chat about various things for the day. It had been decided that the next day they would make sure they had everything ready for their next set out onto the path ahead and leave early the next day after. Seeing it was starting to get late Ren and Nora shared their goodnights with the others and returned to their own room. Nora had zoomed into the bathroom within seconds to claim the rights to change into her nightwear first, soon skipping out and throwing herself onto her bed before lounging relaxedly as Ren took his turn to change. While Nora lay there alone her gaze turns to the window as a bright flash arrived, followed by a crack of thunder so loud it shook the room itself. With a grin she threw herself off the bed and leaned close to the window, trying to see out but the thick fog now mixed with torrential rain made it completely impossible to see even the hanging flower baskests either side of the window.

Regardless, she lowered to her knees gently and watched what she could see of the thundering rain instead, trying to pinpoint where each lightning strike was through the thick fog. She had become so lost to herself she had failed to notice Ren came back into the room, who was now sat on his bed watching her for a moment before looking around to see if he could find any reading matieral. Other than a few old magazines and comics with hardly anything worth reading he turned his attention back to Nora, who's expression had changed to a more down looking way. In her mind she was still a little down about making him angry, feeling as if she had disappointed him and that was something she tried so very hard not to do. Gently, she places her arms onthe windowsill then rests her head onto said arms, idly poking at the old wooden fram that boxed the window's glass into four squares as she overthought too much on the matter which only put her down more. Furrowing his brow, Ren stood up and walked over silently, making her jump back to reality when he lowers to his knees next to her and joined her; watching out the window at the weather.

Nora gave a bright smile but his gaze wiped it off her face as the magenta eyes locked with hers, they didn't look angry but instead were full of regret for getting as mad as he did "Ren... what's wrong...?" she asks and he gave a slight sigh to himself "I know why you're feeling down, don't try hiding it from me" he said, turning his gaze back to the weather "and I'm sorry for getting as mad as I did at you. I'm not disappointed in you but you did make me panic today" he added, watching her slump her face into her arms more as she gave a more miserable look. He hated it when she gave him that face, even moreso when it was him that caused it. He could see that talking it through wasn't going to be easy and he was finding it hard to explain it any more than he already had so instead he once again turned his gaze to the weather and silently slipped an arm over her shoulders, feeling her smaller frame jump in surprise, seeing her staring up at him in wonder without even having to look at her. The very next thing he knew he was being almost crushed by powerfull arms hugging him around the neck and shoulders as his back turns into a dangerously bending plank of wood before it finally gave way and he fell back with a grunt and she made damn well sure that he knew that she wasn't letting go.

It took him several moments to get adjusted to her crushing strength which had taken him while his guard was down and he breathed out a sigh of relief once he felt his lungs getting the appropriate air needed, feeling her about to move away but he prevented that by simply wrapping his arms around upper and lower back, earning a delighted squeal on his shoulder "what am I going to do with you..." he said lightly, watching her tilt her head upwards with her most adorable, yet strikingly beautiful, smile yet and he felt himself giving a small smile back in return as he moved to sit up, leavinging against the bed as he held her there. she was sat on his lap sidewards and the new position had forced his head to be rested ontop of hers; or was it forced? Regardless... Nora felt completely content and gave a happy sound as she got more comfortable on him, staying there as he watched out the window silently thinking to himself while the storm raged on with it's noisy, rampaging thunder and rain. He had worried in silence through that day, even though she hid it well and kept her playful and cheerful nature in full view he knew that she had been feeling down all day about it; being less chatty and energetic which was only half of Nora. Anything half Nora meant that she wasn't feeling at her full joy.

This time he knew that she didn't feel down in any way what-so-ever and it brought some peace to his mind, coming back to reality when he felt her body become very slumped and looked down; seeing that she had fallen asleep. Gently and slowly he stood with her after slipping one arm under her legs, placing her on her bed while trying to pry her still clinging arms from around his shoulder without waking her, not that she was going to let that happen somehow as her eyes open tiredly "...huh?" she mumbled, eyes becoming wide as her face grey intensely hot while a confused Ren stood there, blinking a few times and then gave a slightly unimpressed look. Their faces were extremely close, since this was the only angle he had found to have any luck on moving her arms and now it was backfiring "uh... so... er. Mind... letting me go..?" he asks, picking his words very carefully, getting ready to fight for his life as he saw the heavy shade of red turn to a softer rosey color as she grinned brightly "you get this close to me then you want to be let go?" she asks in a cheerful voice, giving a small shy giggle at his blank faced stare before asking as quietly as she possibly could "only until I fall back asleep... pleaaaaaseee...?"

He watched her in thought for aseveral moments... it had been quite some time since she had asked for something from him in such an adorable way and he just couldn't seem to fight with himself to say no. With a heavy sigh he gives in, much to her obvious delight, as he got onto the bed and slumps onto his back, letting her cling to his side with arms moving from his shoulders to around his torso and her legs locking around on of his 'well, looks like you're here for the night...' he thought, staring at the ceiling as Nora made herself as comfortable as she could. Within minutes she was mumbling a tired goodnight to him while clearly dozing off. Replying to her with his own goodnight, he suddenly felt himself becoming very tired; feeling so warm and comfortable it had made him unwilling to move as odd as it felt, yet felt strangely right. He liked this feeling despite how strange it felt, lazily slipping one arm under her side to gently rest at around her lower back and let his hand lightly laze on her side as she slept soundly next to him, finding himself drifting off against his own will.

-xx-

The very next day he would be woken the exact same way he had been woken the previous day, but this time he didn't decide to startle the life out of her by changing the tables of who was above who he decided to just lay there and watch her calmly as her smiling face, full of joy, watched him and poked his nose again, bubbling with energy. That day would be spent with all four members of the team walking around a less foggy but very wet harbour town and looking at things of interest, taking some time to get anything they had missed while buying their stock of food, water and other necessities before returning to the inn much earlier for sleep, going for a very early morning leave. While Jaune and Ruby had already sorted things out and were currently asleep before the others; only Ren and Nora were awake and had just finished sorting out their things ready for the morning. Nora was by the window again watching the stars, having had a smile on her face all day long and it was still there, it must have been the happiest he had seen her in over a year and it was certainly nice to see.

As he sat down on his bed and started to settle, being asked a question she had tried to get an answer for several times that day "so... why didn't you move? I mean, I know full well that you could have gotten out of that hold yet you didn't and now I'm starting to wonder just why you didn't. I mean you've been very quiet all day about it and keep avoiding answering me and I really really really really want to know" she started, chuckling while she rambled and walked around before sitting on her bed and watching him "it's like you have something going on in there but you're not saying it because it's probably something super super SUUUPER secret and no one's allowed to know and you're not going to let anyone know be-" "Nora" she stopped and gave an innocent smile at the stern voice warning her to stop "are you done or is there more you want to say?" he asks, actually having a lighter and very slightly playful tone "hmmmmmm well I have a lot to say, like.. a LOT but I don't know if I should say it I mean if I said it what sort of impact would that have?" she started up again, gasping "it could destroy everything as we know it! Then I'd be alone and then I'll have no one to talk to and and if I said that I- wait... you're finding this funny!" she stopped, pointing an accusing finger at him and pouted cutely as he continued to watch. He may not be laughing or exactly smiling but he was definitely quite amused right now.

It was the moments like these that made the rough times worth it, just feeling content and happy; being by someone who would give her all just to be there and always has given her all to do just that very thing "are you sure you have nothing else to say?" he asks and Nora gave that thoughtful face again before staring at him and crossing her arms "nope, I'm not putting myself into another endless rambling loop for your sudden and weird entertainment needs" she stated, staring at him in challenge "now why would I be trying to make you enter an endless rambling loop?" he questioned and she just stared at him even more, trying her hardest "to be honest, I think you do have more to say but you either don't want to say it... or can't because you're unsure of it comes out wrong or you get an answer you're not hoping for" he said, seeing her twitch and droop her head "there's just no hiding things from you is there?" she questions calmly, returning her gaze to him "I can't see everything, Nora, you can hide a lot of things very well and sometimes I can't even tell when you're sad unless I catch you when you think no one's looking" he replied.

Nora gave a small smile which then turned into a triumphant grin before poking her tongue out at him "weeeelll you're just gonna have to keep trying! Cause these lips are S. E. A. L. E. D sealed" she stated in challenge, pointing at him playfully only to have him hold the tip of her finger which made her blink and look at him in question "now... surely you should know better than to challenge me... I'll find out what you're hiding whether sooner or later" he said calmly, watching her reactions closely "you know that I'll find out whatever something is whenever I'm challenged by you, but maybe I don't need to try" he said and let her finger go, seeing her guard had dropped and she had now turned into a nervous sort of shy "um, what do you mean; you don't need to try? ahahaha... I mean it's not like I have anything to hide I mean that would be silly riiight? Why would I have anything to hide from you -HEEEEY you're doing it agaaaaainn!" she complains and gave a grumpy looking face as she jumped to her feet, getting ready to tackle him for winding her up. The moment she threw herself at him she would faceplant onto the bed and push herself up, he had quickly dodged from her grabbing range.

Giving a light grumble she tried again and again but he only stepped around her attempts with an amused smile on his face as he avoided being caught by grabbing her wrist and spinning her around so her own body weight took her off balance slightly "that's not faaaaiir!" she complained, pouting at him as she kept trying; showing less annoyance and just genuine want to get a hold of him and he would be lying if he didn't find the desire in her eyes to be appealing. Desire to want to just be as close to him as she possibly could and if anyone could make him feel more wanted in the world: no one could beat Nora's level of affection. "stop moving!" she whines at him, stopping and watching him in defeat which made him give her a light and, even rarer than his smile, a small chuckle as he stands still at the foot of his bed as if to test her. If she were going to tackle him he'd at least have a soft landing. Nora just gave him another slightly annoyed whine and watched, wondering if he was going to move if she tried again; his current standing spot would mean she would either go face first onto the bed again or end up being right on top of him.

The second thought sounded fun in her mind but she dropped any idea of that actually happening and just crossed her arms as he remained stood there, waiting "so... are you going to admit defeat or...?" he questioned, waiting for her next course of action as she stared at him "the Nora I know wouldn't give up" he added and that did it... the challenging spark came back to her eyes and she slung herself towards him at frightening speed within a split second and rugby tackled him clean off his feet, her stern glare turning into a more cheerful one as she realises she had finally caught him as they connect to the bed with a grunt coming from each. She instantly sat up onto his belly and throw her fists up in the air in victory while grinning away "YEAH I WIN!" she cheered to herself as he watched calmly, blinking as she points directly at him and held her hand still before quickly and lightly jabbing the tipp of his nose "boop!"

"and what do you plan to do now that you've won?" he asks, lazily laying there, quite comfortable as she thought "I'll... um... hm" she looked around the room as she thought of what she could try and do but the grins and moved, flopping onto him and hugged up to him "I'll do this!" she stated in her cute and innocent way, resting her chin on his chest gently and watching him with a smile as he watched her calmly "alright but what does the loser have to do?" he questions and her gaze turned thoughtful again !whateeever he wants!" she said with a grin !I don't think that's how it works... the winner decides what the loser has to do-""and since I'm winner I'm deciding that the loser can do whatever he wants!" Nora cut him off with a bright grin and he just remained where he was before making her squeak by wrapping his arms around her again and she gave a joyous giggle, getting comfy on him "fine... loser has to stay like this all night" she said, making no attempt to move and neither did he, already becoming too relaxed to even care. The moment was far too sweet to ruin and he had already dozed off long before she had, thinking she had already gone to sleep due to her quietness and stillness.

Her eyes opened when she felt his breathing relax to a more sleep like pattern and she gazed at his sleeping face, he looked so handsome when he slept. She watched him for some time before sleep took over her senses, resting her face into the side of his warm neck gently as she dozes off, feeling him hold her tighter in his sleep.

-xx-

The next morning was started the exact same way as the previous, or so he was thinking until he opened his eyes. This time he was awake before her as she slept silently on him, the very dully lit room meant that dawn would be in full within the next hour and he sat up slowly, having to quickly pull her to him before she fell back. He had forgotten they had fallen asleep like that but the sudden movements didn't wake the sleeping woman who mumbled lightly in her sleep as her head lazily rested onto his shoulder. He blank a few times as he started to wake more and noticed that he had began to start staring at her sleeping face. Remaining silent; he faught with his mind on just why now, of all times out of all the time they had known each other, he was starting to find it hard to look away from her pretty face.

What snapped him back to reality was her finger on his nose as she gave a sleepy giggle "hey... why are you staring like that? is my face dirty or something...?" she mumbled, half awake "uh. No, it's not dirty but you do need to wake up and start getting ready" came his reply "but I want to stay here like this a little longer" she mumbled, dozing off slightly only to be woken almost fully in an instant when she realises just how they were sat, going stiff backed and red faced; even though it was currently too dark in the room to even see that as her face grew infinitely redder when she felt him cross his legs under her backside and held her close to him again with his forehead resting into her shoulder "then we will, but only for a little longer... then we seriously have to start getting ready" he stated. Nora stuttered slightly and relaxed slowly and soon returned the hug "I-I... o-okay..." she got out, fidgeting slightly

"hey um... Ren...?" her slowly asked question made him move back slightly so he could see her face "are you okay?" he asks, finding it unusual whenever her speech had turned slow "Wha..? Oh! I'm fine!" she said, giving him an honest smile before regaining that shy looking gaze "well.. so.. why didn't you move after...?" she asks, trying again but this time he decided there was no point in winding her up, instead brushing her fringe out of the way of her eyes "because I liked it" he said, seeing that she was watching in in a way that said 'keep going'. He had already guessed she'd want a better explanation than that so he gaze a very light sigh , trying to find the right words and he was finding it increasingly hard the more shy and adorable she got with him with each word "I liked it and... well. The rest you'll just have to find out for yourself, won't you?" he teased slightly. Although, the words weren't what made her shy it was the fact he had rested his forehead against hers and their faces were dangerously close and if she wasn't mistaken, she was sure she could feel his face growing warmer and warmer. Giving him one of her softest smiles she gazes into his eyes with so much want, they were almost screaming for something she had wanted for so long.

His alluring gaze was making her feel so weak in his hold and she had forgotten everything around her expect for him as she felt herself becoming very lost to his beautiful eyes, the eyes that could never hide much from her despite how blank or serious his face could be. She felt him shifting the angle of his face on her slightly but a knock on the door brought them spiralling back down into reality as Nora jumped off him and stood there stiffly while Ruby's voice spoke loudly "come on you guys get up, we gotta go!" she said "we're up, we're getting ready" Ren replied as Nora dived into the bathroom to change while her mind raced a trillion miles per split second 'was he going to...? nah... come on girl get real, but then... that was very very very very very very real... VEEEEEEERRRRYYYY real' her thoughts continued to race. Though she would have like to have believed something was about to happen, she took it as he was just being in an affectionate mood and thought nothing more on it.

"Nora, are you okay in there?" a concerned voice spoke after ten minutes 'she's never this long... please don't let this bed a bad thing...' he thought, knocking on the door lightly "hey come on, answer me..." he spoke "huh...? OH SORRY!" she said, throwing the door open with an innocent smile only to be faced with a worried look on his "...? um, are you okay?" she asks him and he furrows his brow slightly "You're the one that should be answering that question... you never take that long to dress" he replied and Nora just gave a smile nod "just tired!" she said, but the door knocked again before he could question here more "hey guys, Ruby's getting very impatient. She really wants to go. Are you all alright in there? It's not like you to be so slow" Jaune's voice spoke out and Ren gently closed the door so he could get ready and Nora toed the ground again with a smile on her face before almost skipping to the main door and threw it open, bouncing on her heals

"YEP we're all good. Just a slow wake up is all!" she said with a grin, watching Jaune jump back in surprise when the door flung open suddenly "I, well. Okay then... We'll meet you outside" he said, quickly walking off "okay" Nora replied, walking to her bed and grabbing her weapon and backpack just as Ren rejoined her in the room, grabbing his things as well. They left the room and joined the others outside and the team started to make their way out of the harbour town and across the field towards the rocky land bridge. As Ruby skips off ahead excitedly Jaune jogged to catch her up while Nora decided to remain by Ren's side who wanted to walk at a slower pace, making her squeal out in delight when he pretty much made her cling to his arm by pulling at her own arm lightly in a hint that she took perfectly. They were going to have a very long, and rough time ahead of them..

Although a fair distance across, they could still view the ocean waves either side of the strip of unstable land and today was oddly quiet... no gulls were even heard and there was just something strange none of them could quiet put their finger on. Nora was no longer jumping around and being excited, she was on high alert which made Ren alerted and on guard which in turn put Ruby and Jaune into a sense of unease; also bringing their guards up as they tried to cover as much ground as possible today. They had kept a steady pace for over four hours before a violent earthquake suddenly erupted and the ground had begin to crack and crumble; forcing the team to start running to, what they could only hope, safer and more stable land as large chunks of the area started to collapse, sending sprays of sea water miles high into the air as the force and violent quaking sent powerful shockwaves through the ground. Ren had run ahead of Nora when he saw Ruby had almost fallen into one of the large holes; having only Jaune to hold on to who was trying to pull her up.

Once he reached them he helped pull the red wearing woman up, only to see her zooming towards Nora instantly as she became very unstable on the crumbling ground under her feet; about to fall! Ren was starting to run to help before Jaune grabbed him and pulled him back with some force; seconds later the ground cracked open where he would have ran across and a large tusk thrust up through it, missing the pair by inches. A loud roar came from underneath as a gigantic head thrusts into view, a single eye alone on the beast was easily the length of Jaune and as tall as Ren in size but it hadn't seemed to have noticed them at first. "GET TO SAFETY!" Jaune called out and the two pair now ran in seperate directions as the thrashing Grimm thrashed itself free, crawling onto the land in the direction Ruby and Nora had ran in; towards the harbous town. Turning around, eyes full of worry and panic; both Jaune and Ren were unable to reach their friends now...

The large Grimm had torn the bridge to pieces and the raging waves were far too dangerous to swim in to get across as half of it's body stuck from the water, roaring viciously at the women who were firing at the Grimm to try and warm it off. It's upper body was designed for land but had stubby front legs and chunky short claws while it;s hidden lower half would most likely be more suited for water while it's back was full of spikes and frills and the head itself was very large, long and had a mouth full of shark like teeth. It roars out in pain as one of Nora's grenades explodes on one of it's eyes, causing it to raise one of it's arms and it was now coming down towards the woman at an alarming speed. Ren felt a strong sense of panic and quickly pulled out the Stormflower, shooting as much as he could at the Grimm to prevent the blow; hitting it in one of the eyes and the pain caused made it's hand miss Nora as it turns around swiftly. The mighty arm crashing into the ground broke most of the edges away while large collums of rock shot up and blocked the view of the women.

Jaune pulled at Ren, having to litterally drag him off across the bridge until he got his senses back to run with the blonde as the massive creature was now trying to get to them. On Ruby and Nora's side of the rocky land bridge; having just barely avoided death itself thanks to Ren's fast acts, were now racing the collapsing area they had been thrown into. The force of the arm connecting to the ground had opened up a large cave like area and they had fallen down onto one of the ledges. Ruby helps Nora up "come on, we have to run!" she said "where?!" she asks, both worried for the others and in a state of panic at the raging water below them which was rising dangerously close to their ledge as Ruby looks around and started to run "THIS WAY QUICK! she called and Nora quickly followed after her as they both ran along the large ledge towards safer ground as the ledge was starting to give way. Using her hammer, Nora stood onto the large head and shot a grenade, grabbing Ruby along the way as they were being launched up onto the ground above, not stopping for even a second as they ran back down the path they had come from earlier that morning. The large collums of rock poking high up into the ground behind them made it impossible to see the others, only seeing the swinging head of the mighty Grimm that was raging on after the others.

Ruby and Nora stop once they reached the more stable ground and watched on helplessly, even though Nora was still trying to angle the grenades to hit the beast; but it just wasn't enough... Ruby started to pull at her arm with a whimper to her words "come on... we have to go... I'm sure they'll be fine but we have to get back to the town and warn everyone..." she said. With tears in her eyes, Nora very hesitantly gave up and followed Ruby as they ran at full speed towards the town which was hours away... only then did she realise on just how close she was to have being flattened by the Grimm; the lower half of her weapon's handle was missing.

Now battling with their own safety, avoiding the beasts blows and an angry Ren; Jaune was now struggling to keep up with it all, almost falling to his doom until and almost bone breaking grip from Ren on his arm forced him to run far faster than the blonde could even manage properly as the land broke up around them at an alarming rate as the large Grimm continued to try and crawl onto land after them; roaring out loudly in rage as it's large clawed paws slam into the ground not far behind them as it continued to try and get them; it's thick bulky body weighing so much the unstable ground broke under it; making it impossible to even make it across now without a boat "ow Ren! That hurts!" Jaune complained, but the man ignored him as he kept a powerful grip on their wrist, continuing to force them to keep up with him as they reached more stable ground. He only stopped and let go once he noticed the Grimm had started to lose interest after losing distance with them; being extremely slow on land.

Giving an annoyed grumble, Ren was about to take his turn on attacking but it had managed to slip it's way back into the water, vanishing off into the deep with a loud roar sounding out. The quaking of the collapsing rocks slowly subsided and everything turned quiet again and their eyes scan the other side; the large collums of rock gave them no view to the others but their eyes scanned for any signs regardless "they should be up there... I mean, they should... right?" Jaune questioned, more of to himself than anyone as his breaths started to become panicked and worried. He was still very shaken up from the encounter, but now adding on with the pressure of their friends possibly being dead; crushed... drowned? Who knew...? He perked up slightly when Ren points out a shining object on the top of the collums, both staring in hopes it was them climbing up to show them that they were okay but it took them several moments to realise that wasn't going to happen; then seeing that it was infact a part of Magnhild's handle and Ren collapsed to his knees, leaving Jaune in a tough spot on what to do; hesitantly placing a hand on his shoulder but got no response "come on... we have to go... it could come back at any moment..." he said, trying to get a reply.

The worrying Jaune now had to stay there, trying to get him to move and respond while worrying greatly about another attack... if it attacked again he was certain neither of them would get out of it. The only thing that made the man get to his feet was a hoard of Beowolf coming towards them after hearing the commotion and his magenta eyes filled with so many mixed emotions and he dashed towards the pack, slicing through them without stop as Jaune following after him to make sure he didn't get himself hurt "Ren slow down!" he called, having to deal with the stragglers that decided Ren wasn't worth it and thought Jaune would be a better target but they were gravely mistaken, quickly being sliced down as Jaune let adrenaline take over so he could catch up with his green wearing friend.

Later that night, Ruby and Nora had been told they needed to help evacuate the harbour town as sightings of the large Grimm were seen near the area, it's roars heard every now and then under the crashing waves as both protected the villages and lead them off to a nearby and safer town the villagers knew of. Ruby looked over to the not so cheery Nora who was staring at the ground with every step, tears staining her face and she gave a sigh, looking at her own feet 'please... be safe out there guys...' she thought, swinging her scythe at any Grimm that dared target the villagers.

On the other side, Jaune was forcing himself to keep up with Ren who hadn't stopped for even a second. He had become double the silent her normally was and he looked tense all over, ready for a fight at any moment as Grimm lurked through the night and the tide had made the rest of the rocky path more dangerous. Giving a sigh, Jaune looked back for only a moment, hoping and praying that they were somehow okay over there. He knew what Ren was thinking, and he was trying not to think that way too, walking after him in silence with only the roars of the lurking Grimm and the monstrous cries echoing in the distance from the gigantic Grimm that had ripped the very land itself apart. The whailing cries of the beasts echoed far into the night...

-xx-

(Reminder; if you're going to complain about my style; read my main page bio first. What comes, comes; I will not be changing anything as I type for fun and not to be a 'perfectionist'. If you don't like how the story is going don't complain; just read something else. But yes... I know my grammer is terrible so you have zero need to complain about that either :D)

Okay okay soooo, there's Chapter One, I hope you found it interesting. Next Chapter will concentrate on the events days after the Grimm's arrival and then progress over a one year period which will end at the one year mark and then it'll be on to Chapter Three.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the RWBY Characters. They belong to RoosterTeeth. (SORRY FOR THE LATE UPLOAD! I've been busy with Grimm Eclipse game... along with RP. But here it is, enjoy!)(Warning; chapter consists of mainly sad feeling - will lighten up nearing end of chapter)

Note; Story will be broken into small parts; Several Days, 6 Months, then a Year; the year being where the rest of the RP starts up to the main parts I had planned. Each part will have views on both sides but may not have a lot to say; sorry if this chapter won't be all that interesting but I do plan to get it kickstarting off fully in Chapter 3. This chapter won't be the most cheerful but, there'll be some spots of joy in there :3

Note to Guest review about not wanting heartbreak, sorry if this chapter will be hard to read; BUT I PROMISE YOU, it'll work out in the end :)

Parts will be small because I aim to do more on the one year mark. Sorry for any sloppy typing!

Special thanks to; Kaci! :3 the RP has given me some stuff to type for the last part of the chapter!

-xx-

Orange Lotus

-xx-

Chapter Two - Lonely

-xx-

-xx-

Several days after seperation

-xx-

News had spread far and wide of thew new Grimm. it's rampaging at the harbour town along with an attack on the harbour town across from it; the village across from where the team had originally planned to go to next; where Jaune and Ren currently were. Sat on the edge of the bed, Jaune watched the news on the old television the inn room had; "following the reports on the monstrous, and very powerful, Grimm have sprung up in yet another harbour; thousands are wounded and many more reported missing or dead" the news reporter on the screen spoke "due to this serious event, all transportation via ocean has been cancelled until further notice as several more sightings have been seen. Until then, we can only hope that Huntsmen and Huntresses are capable of bringing this beast down and soon. Back to you Tom-"

Jaune sighs and turns the television off, dropping the remote and burrying his face into them as he sobbed quietly, rocking at the edge of the bed lightly. The last few days had become very tough for him; two days across that dangerous land bridge with a very silent and unpredictable Ren had been very unnerving for him, and just today the town they were currently resting at had been attacked by a large horde of Beowolf; leaving many injured and dead. He had tried to contact both Ruby's and Nora's scrolls but none had answered; always having a flatline tone. He tried to think that maybe their scrolls were destroyed in all the chaos like Ren's was and almost his own but he was just starting to overthink things far too much, starting to think that they truly were... gone...

Ren, however, he was sat by the window watching a heavy rainstorm roll in and he hadn't even bothered to even talk to Jaune once, nor even eat more than just an energy bar. He had never felt so lost, he couldn't describe just how alone he was feeling right now and Jaune didn't question it for he knew that pretty much every single day for most of his life the cheerful, orange haired woman had been there almost every single second and now with the thought that she was dead? It put him into an all time low and he had withdrawn into his shell, remembering all the good times they had shared and all of those special, tender moments where he would be drowned in her affection and sometimes surprising her with his own moments. Regardless... he was happy he had the chance to experience something as amazing as the time he shared with her, he just felt so lonely now that all of that was ripped away from him so suddenly. His thoughts drift back to the very last moment they shared alone together, sharing only the tenderest of affection 'you should have just kissed her...' he thought to himself, looking down into his lap where his hands were cupped around each other. He surely would have as well if the door hadn't have been knocked on that very moment; which caused her to jump away out of reaction.

Jaune looked over to him with worry as he dried his eyes lazily, he knew they should keep on with their set goal, it would take them several months to reach the other side of the continent as planned, and then the same amount to get back to this area before they returned to familiar places. He could see how far Ren had distanced himself and started to think that right now thee was no getting through to him as he lays back on the bed. The inn room looked grimey and old but it was all they could get and the single beds had uncomfortable matresses and horribly thin blankets that wouldn't even keep them warm. With a sigh he sat back up, stood, and then left to stand at the inn's exit for some fresh air as he thought to himself 'if I had known this was going to happen... I wouldn't have been such a coward when trying to say how I felt...' he thought to himself, toeing at the ground lightly as he thought. It had taken him a while to develop feelings for the sweet Ruby Rose, and from the moment he had realised that they only grew stronger.

He smiled slightly to himself as he remembered all of the times where she would break down laughing at his foolish attempts to tell her how he felt, even though it made him mad back then it gave him some comfort right now. In a way, he kind of liked it; her laughter was like music to him and her smile was just so sweet it could make you feel like you were melting away. Giving a slight, sad chuckle he looked up at the raining sky before turning his head to see Ren leave the building and walked off down the street "I'm going off ahead... I just want to get this search over and done with then go back to what I know" he stated firmly. Without second thought, Jaune ran to get his things from the inn room and quickly followed after the man, catching up easily as he walked at his side "yeah... I can agree on you with that" came his mumbled reply. He could see Ren was tired, he himself was tired, but neither of them could sleep and right now they wanted to get their minds off of all the gloom and just try and find some peace of mind for a little while. Hopefully their travels will help them deal with the pain a little better as they walk off into the rainy village; headed for their next destination.

Back on the other side, Ruby was comforting a wailing Nora who was hunched into the corner of their inn room, hugging her legs to her chest and hiding her face into the back of her knees. She was happy a moment ago, smiling away to herself then all of a sudden burst into a fit of uncontrollable tears which had shaken Ruby from sleep. Ruby had been having a hard time sleeping, only having gotten a few hours here and there over the past week but she wouldn't complain about losing out on this one if it meant trying to comfort her "hey, come on, calm down" she said softly, wrapping her arms around the ball known as Nora as she stroked her hair in a soothing way but Nora just continued to wail "it's not fair! Stupid Grimm! Stupid unstable rocky land bridge!" she complained "and now... now they probably think we're dead..." she mumbled, sobbing more "wh-what if th-they're dead...?" she choked out and Ruby sighs "don't ever think like that, I'm sure they're okay!" she tried to reassure.

Nora looked up at her with tear filled eyes "come on Nora... you know Ren a lot better than I do and I know Jaune just as much as you do. I think they're fine and I know you can think that too" Ruby stated "Jaune's smart and so is Ren, the only thing we can do is just keep going no matter what..." she continues, drying her friends wet face and slowly managing to defuse her crying fit. "Jaune likes you, you know that?" Nora spoke up after a long silence and Ruby just gave a small smile "yeah I know, but it's kinda cute and funny when he tries saying it. I guess I'm a little mean for keeping him going but... I want to hear him say it first, you know?" Ruby replied, watching the ceiling in thought "but... if I knew this would happen I would have told him first" she added with a mumble, fidgetting slightly in thought. Nora stared into the room silently as she listened, looking over when she was questioned "what about you, Nora? It's... kinda obvious" Ruby said and Nora gave a sigh.

"yeah, I like him. A lot... It's always been me and him before we started making friends at academies... well, mostly me making friends" Nora started, sighing slightly "he has pulled me through some very rough times and out of a lot of trouble, he'd get mad but then he'd make it upto me somehow for putting me down so much by getting upset with me" she gave a slight chuckle, remembering the day on the pier "I just wish... I knew how he really felt. He's so hard to read sometimes and that was always one thing I could never figure out about him" she added. Ruby gave a smile "well, I think he likes you. I have caught him looking when he thinks no one's paying any attention to him" Ruby stated, making Nora give a small smile and a blush at the thought of that which in turn made Ruby smile "they're fine, Nora... I just know they are, and we have to stay strong no matter what. If we just sit around and give up then we won't get anything done. So I say we get some sleep and in the morning we go and help the villagers to get our minds off of things for a little" Ruby suggested, pulling Nora to her feet and giving her a huge.

Nora gave a sigh and returned the hug "thanks, Ruby..." she mumbled, pulling away and crawling onto the bed with a lazy slump, grabbing a pillow and holding it over the back of her head as she slumps to her belly. Ruby watched for a moment before shuffling back over to her own bed, laying down and staring at the ceiling in thought. Eventually she found herself falling asleep after she heard the usual sleep mumbling coming from Nora, happy that her friend was at least getting some rest.

The next day Ruby had woken long before Nora, seeing she was still asleep. She knew the orange haired woman hadn't had much rest so she let her be, leaving the inn and looking around the town; offering her help to whoever needed it before reaching the town's blacksmith to see if Nora's weapon had been repaired. Ruby stayed around the village for a few hours giving her help before returning back to the inn with a restored and fully polished Magnhild, seeing Nora was still sleeping. Placing Magnhild aside for later, Ruby sat down on her own bed and just remained silent while her friend slept while she lets herself have her own moment of sadness 'please be okay out there guys... please make it back to us somehow...' she thought, drooping her head more.

-xx-

Six Months after seperation

-xx-

Ren walked through the forest, it was silent but seemed endlessly peaceful. The falling red leaves were all around and it seemed to be only him here as his eyes scan the area "how am I back here...?" he said to himself, eyes falling on a certain orange haired woman as she giggled "you never left, silly!" Nora said, giving him a playful push. Ren blank a few times and looked around, it seemed too odd for him... "no... this feels too odd..." he mumbles, perking up as his arm was grabbed and he was now being pulled through the forest slowly "oh come on now, it's as normal as it's ever been" she said with an amused giggle at him "you know, just us, our friends, the Grimm, breaking legs. All that stuff!" she added and he gave a small soft smile as she continued to pull him along towards an area with a small pond full of floating red leaves. It looked so beautiful and she stuck out so brightly against the red backround and he found himself staring; both in awe and confusion.

She tilts her head at him in question and smiles sweetly "hey, are you okay? You look kinda pale..." she asks, lifting her hands up to cup his face as he just continues to stare at her 'surely this can't be real...' he thought, trying to touch her face but felt... nothing... yet she remained standing there with a smile. Her hands on his face felt so very real to him, but he felt so down at the fact all his hands did was fade through her as his view turned black and he started waking to his senses. Looking around groggily he was no longer met with the gorgeous red leaves of trees but dull green ones and moss covered trees as he shifts ever so slightly on the branch he had taken sleep on through the night. Looking down he could see few Grimm lurking around in search for food as the first light of the day was now starting to filter through the trees. He sat up, rubbing his face and just keeping his hands there as he kept his eyes covered, as if to keep the world around him out of his sight; not wanting to see the loneliness he now had.

Jaune had been seperated from him some time ago now during their last stop on the other side of the continent, having been attacked by a large hoard of Grimm and having to split up to lead the masses apart to prevent innocent villagers from being in the firing line of the large scaled attack. They found no sight of each other after having dealt with the large numbers and had come to terms on they were no where near each other; now going on their own pathes. They had found out so little on Torchwick's remaining goons and had zero leads to a place where they could be hidden, deciding to just make their ways back and find a way across to the other continent to return to seek out the only others they knew for certain could be alive. Although not at each others' sides they were still headed in the same direction, knowing they'd meet up at some point during that.

Sighing heavily, Ren got himself up and climbed down the tree once the Ursa had moved along; having no interest for needless fights as he walked off through the silent forest on yet another long and lonesome day. Despite becoming more tolerant to the never ending pain of loss, he had managed to bring himself to at least eat when he needed to but sleep remained an issue. Many nights he found himself unable to sleep; using the lost time of rest to just travel onwards; his dreams were too full of sweetness yet too much waking sadness and he knew it would take him a long time to fully tolerate the feeling. He promised he would always be there for her, but failed to even make sure she got out of something as dangerous as the Grimm's attack and he grit his teeth, grumbling slightly at himself as he kicked a pebble off the path in front of him while trying to get his thoughts back on track.

After a while of walking he comes to a calm flowing river with many water based flowers growing at the banks and from in the water itself, taking this time to sit and distract himself with the nature around him. There were lotus flowers blooming in the water, surrounded by various water lillies and lilly pads and the light sounds of crickets and frogs chirped and croaked in the air at an almost constant. A soft sigh comes out as months of stress lift off of his shoulders slightly, having not had a peaceful moment like this for quite a while as he sits back against a tree and took in the scenery. The trees here were far greener than the ones where he had rested for the night, they looked healthier and more appealing. He watched the blue sky, only to avert his gaze as the soft blue would only remind him of those pretty eyes that looked at him every day with such love and adoration. His brow furrowed slightly and he turned his attention back to the flowers instead, looking through the various lotus colorations. There were many with soft shades of red, some yellow. a few light orange and one single very bright orange one that stuck out the most from the rest.

He found himself staring at the odd lotus, it was bigger than the others and it's petals were held more proud and strong; but instead of looking away this time he gave a small smile before standing and getting a closer look. The flower was absolutely glowing in vibrant orange while the underside of it's petals were a dark, almost purple. The stigma had a light hue and was barely noticeable while the filament and anther had a pretty baby blue hue mixed in with a light shade of white and a somewhat darker shade of pink 'even the flowers taunt me...' he thought, but the beautiful lotus was just too pretty to look away from. He had become so lonely that various colors and color placement kept his mind going, as if his brain was creating illusions to keep him from giving up completely. He sat down, watching the flower and just remembering all of the good times he and Nora had shared through the years, feeling only comfort and joy for a small amount of time and his senses had crazed for some comfort for quite a while, smiling to himself slightly as he let his mind lose itself in the quiet and safe little area he had sat down in.

Jaune, who was a full two days walk away from where Ren was, was currently walking around the town he had decided to rest in for a day or two while giving a helping hand to those who needed it. He had become so worried when he couldn't find Ren after the attack of all those Grimm but he knew that he was fine... he just had to be. Huffing hard, he pushed with all his strength to help a few others lift a large and very heavy plank off the ground; helping with some repairs to a building an Ursa had destroyed half of the other night. He was given thanks and walked off after he was no longer needed and instead helped an elderly woman carry her shopping bags after a little persistant offering. The elderly woman gave him a sweet smile and a little lien asthanks for his help once she reached her home faster with his help and Jaune gave her a bright smile in return before looking around. He had managed to cope easier with the thought of losing Ruby and Nora thanks to having so many people to help as he travelled on his way back towards where it all happened...

Althought they were several months away from there, every they had gotten closer their shoulders felt heavier and heavier; both his and Ren's. After seeing no one else needed help, Jaune returned to the inn room he had rented, sitting on the bed and turning the television on. This room was nice and clean unlike the last one which's walls were peeling and the ceiling full of holes. He flips to the news channel as he waits listens to the weather, it's just a shame he didn't feel joyed at there being a lovely sunny day for the next few days and he perked up as he heard the news report come on with update on what he wanted to know "reports of the ocean Grimm have not been seen for all of two months now without no sightings nor any sound of the horrificly large creature; it seems as if it had vanished into thin air, or so we can only hope... Following the events of the last 6 months, several Huntsmen and Huntresses have died trying to kill this large beast. leaving many others wounded and having to back out of their goals; those who have survived are fast on their way to recovery" the reporter said, the news was currently a live feed from the other continent and the area looked very populated and familiar.

The reporter continued talking "we hope to have confirmation on allowing ocean travel again soon once we are fully certain the large Grimm has moved on from major travel routes although some people are risking their all to cross the ocean in whatever water vehicle they can despite the law's attempts to stop such activities. Reports have said many of those who have tried never showed up to their destination while some have been found dead on shorelines, so we urge with deep concern that anyone watching this who is thinking of doing something so dangerous to please reconsider for your own safety and to wait until ocean travel is allowed once again" the reporter said "anything else you'd like to add for us?" the camera man spoke "yes, today we have a massive increase of people who have just come in from all around to help us prepare for the festival happening in seven month's time-" Jaune would have continued listening, but he completely tuned out the woman speaking as he saw something very familiar to him in the backround of the life feed which was dressed in red and black with a familiar cape blowing lightly around them.

He almost threw himself at the television as he got a closer look, seeing only little extra such as short black hair and silver eyes that were looking around, but he saw no Nora... he did however, see the red wearing woman throw a arm in the air with a smile on her face as she ran out of view of the camera and the blonde slowly and shakily sat on the edge of the bed; every sense in his body sparking alive as a grin grew wide on his face and he instantly grabbed his things, turned the television off and burst out of the room. He only stopped to pay the last of his rent for the room and soon sped off out of the building as a confused inn keeper watched the crazily smiling man ran off to who knew where 'she's alive! SHE'S ALIVE! I need to get back there... I need to!' he thought as he ran off down the streets. Running wouldn't get him there much faster but he was so filled with joy that he couldn't stop himself, he just hoped that he would ran across Ren along the way...

"Nora! Over heeeereee!" Ruby called, skipping off around a corner to grab the orange haired woman who showed little enthusiasm back, but she did give Ruby a warm smile as she let herself get pulled along and Ruby pointed to the news reporter, waving at the camera who's owner was too focused on the news reporter. Ruby knew that if the others were alive and were watching the television they would see them and Nora started waving as well. Although they didn't know only Jaune saw Ruby, they still waved as enthusiastically as they could before they could see the news report had ended and the cameras were off. Nora soon looked down, still being quite sad over the many months... her appetite was still as strong but her sleep patterns were very over the place and she found it hard to get a proper nights sleep... or a sleep where her dreams didn't turn dark and horrible. Ruby pats her shoulder gently "Ren doesn't really watch the news..." Nora mumbled "Jaune does, so even if one might not have noticed at least Jaune will have if he got to see the news today" Ruby said, trying to bring some hope to the downhearted woman as they walk along the busy streets.

As much as Ruby had began to deal with it more and more, she was still very down inside but she knew that she couldn't let that take over and her main goal had become trying to keep Nora going and it wasn't an easy task... many times she thought she was failing whenever Nora had fallen back into a very depressed state every now and then and she was only now starting to pull her out of another one. Nora straightens herself up and tries to keep herself proud and strong, walking alongside Ruby as she tried to at least keep herself up today and Ruby gave a wide smile at her as they walk from place to place to help wherever they could. They had decided to take up living around here for a little while since they got word of a festival happening in several months time and they certainly didn't want to miss it. They both agreed they would leave here after that to return to where Ruby's father lived so they could have at least somewhere to stay and not have to worry about anything for a long while. They were currently keeping in touch with her father via letter, hearing that her sister, Yang, had returned home and was doing just as well as their father was.

Her father had agreed to let Nora live with them as long as she helped towards paying for food and household needs and it had made both Ruby and Nora happy to hear that the others were doing alright out there. They had recieved word just days ago that they were all coming see the festival as well and they were to return with them after. They were currently residing at Mistral, finding whatever peace they could.

Later that day near evening; Nora had split from Ruby to have some time to herself since Ruby said she wanted to return to the inn to get some sleep, having had none the previous night due to many reasons of her own. Walking through the nearby forest, her Magnhild smashed down on the heads of any Grimm that decided they wanted to pick a fight with her. Huffing, she walked towards where the river was and just lazed around there, watching the sky in silence as she thought to herself. She didn't know what she would do sonce Ruby's father takes them both back with him and the others, she hardly knew what to do with herself now... every waking moment was always spent on getting her energy out by showing endless affection and love, but mainly just bouncing around Ren and pulling him around everywhere that was interesting. She gave a small smile to herself as she remembered those times, how he put up with her even if he didn't exactly like where something was going.

He would get angry at her so little, but she always wondered why he tolerated her so much but she would always be shown that he cares for her greatly and each time those affections were displayed it always lit her up and gave her so much energy as she would always feel so overjoyed by it; but now... She lightly toed at the ground and gave a sad sigh. There was no one else in the world that she would ever feel so strongly for in the way she does with him, and she might never see him again, or so she thought. She had her days where Ruby would fill her with energy but it was usually in the heat of battle or when something of great interest came along for the both of them and those little moments kept her going the most, knowing there's still someone there to care about her. Standing, she opened up Magnhild and roamed around to search for any Grimm to beat down while the light was still there, she would only return to the inn once the light had began to fade from the forest but stopped along the way to walk along a slow moving river where lotus grew; finding herself lost at the soft pretty pinks and various other colors.

Looking around, seeing no danger, she sat down and looked at the various ones with a small smile. She would often do this with Ren whenever there was nothing else to do and he decided he wanted to be surrounded by nature and it made her feel slightly less lonely for a moment as her eyes look over the brighter pink ones while many others had darker shades of reds and purples but only one was so dark red, mixed with purple, that it was almost black with a hot pink for the stigma, anther and filaments while the tips of the feathers had the slightly different shade of bright pink and it looked incredibally beautiful to her. The others near this color weren't as pretty and their colors were duller but just as pretty and she felt herself smiling more. Oh how she hoped to have days like these at his side again...

A few hours later, at the inn. Ruby had hardly gotten any sleep due to terrible nightmares, now sat on her bed reading until she'd get bored and doze off again, but instead she huffed and put the book aside before walking to the inn window and looking outside of it; seeing the sunset and Nora walking down the street, seeing she was coming back but she remained where she was while watching the sun setting. She'd be lying if she said her thoughts of them coming back weren't getting lower with each passing week, as much as she tried to stay confident it had become harder and harder and she had no idea for how long she could keep up hiding it from Nora, knowing full well that her support to the orange haired woman was something that had become that of a sister like bond between the pair and all Ruby wanted was just to keep Nora as happy as she could until something came up that would pull them both out of their troubles.

She looks to the door when Nora walked in and gave a smile before it faded, watching her friend shuffle over to her bed before collapsing onto it with a huff and hiding herself under the pillow. Ruby remained silent and turned her gaze back out the window 'please come back...' she thought, sighing to herself softly before standing and retiring to her own bed for a night of very needed sleep with dreams filled with peaceful scenes and memories of her past, taking comfort in them even if only for a few hours.

-xx-

One Year after seperation

-xx-

Jaune had spent the next six months trying to keep up with Ren, calling for him to slow down as he ran to catch up as the man sliced through Grimm effortlessly as they neared the docks of the harbour town that was directly across from the very harbour they crossed over from on that one day that ruined everything. After having been told by Jaune he had seen Ruby, alive and well, on live news, he had made it his personal goal to get back to the other side somehow for if Ruby was alive then maybe, just maybe... Nora was too... and it was the only thing right now motivating him to show any form of enthusiasm as they arrive at the harbour town and Jaune now found himself having to follow Ren instead of going to the inn for some very needed rest "Ren! Seriously... slow down!" he called, stopping to catch his breath only when his friend had finally stopped; seeing the ships docking and leaving the port "oh... they finally brought back ocean travel? That's great!" Jaune cheered, grabbing Ren's arm and pretty much dragging him towards the ships and he gladly allowed this.

Jaune asked if the ship was travelling to Mistral and the captain gave a nod and said "yes, but in one hour young man" the taller and much older man spoke, walking away for what could probably be a break to get himself some food or whatever it was sea captains did these days. Jaune huffs and sat with a slump next to Ren who slowly lowered himself and joined his blonde friend "so... one hour and two days across the ocean huh..." Jaune started, more of a mumble than enthusiastic "this will suck..." he added and Ren gave a small, soft sigh as he thought "just grit your teeth... two days out on that ocean and getting sick will be worth it if it means any chance of finding them" Ren said, watching the sky and waiting "and that's if they're still even at Mistral..." he added on and Jaune gave a smile !well, if they're not... we'll just have to go find Ruby's house and start from there!" the blonde chimed out, trying to gain some enthusiasm back to his mind while Ren gave a nod in agreement.

Ren gave a slight yawn as he sat in silence while Jaune thought up a plan for them to do when they'd reach Mistral, the best idea to simply ask around if anyone had seen any specific details such as hair and eyes and of course; weapons. Magenta eyes scan over the ocean lazily as thoughts rushed through his mind... they were so close to where it all happened and it unnerved him so very badly. Jaune watched his friend stare off blankly, seeing instantly that he wasn't as enthusiastic as before and places a hand on his shoulder to get his attention "hey... we'll find them" he said, trying to help raise Ren's spirits slightly which didn't do much at all, but at least he got a small nod in reply as they both watched over the ocean. They knew that Grimm was down in the depths somewhere... lurking... waiting... both would be lying if they said they didn't feel scared of the beast, but both knew the harsh reality that if it came back; Huntsmen and Huntresses from all around would be called on; including them...

Several hours later, Jaune would be on the deck of the ship while Ren decided he would try to at least get SOME sleep, which probably wasn't going too well. Groaning, he slouched over the railings as his stomach threatened to empty it's contents as he faught the urge to just let go right there and then 'stupid boat... stupid motion sickness...' he thought, groaning once more as he watched the few people who were outside in the cold night air that was breezing over the ocean as the sun was beginning to set. He saw their smiling faces as they walked around, minding their own business and conversing with those they boarded with... it was such a lovely sight to see and he gave a joyful, soft smile before he leaned over the railings once more with an even louder groan of distress while a few people nearby giggled and chuckled at him; but at least he wasn't alone... a young teenager across the other side was making just as much noise as their own stomach gave them motion sickness hell. Jaune knew this was going to suck... but he also knew it was going to be far more worth it by dealing with this if it meant seeing Ruby and Nora again.

After several moments he regained himself a little and decided to walk around while he finally had some peace from his unhappy stomach while watching the sunset 'it's so pretty seeing it out here...' he thought, sighing to himself as his thoughts continued 'only two more days... two more and then... what then? What if... they're gone from there, and they're not at Ruby's old house? Ah stop worrying yourself Jaune... you saw it. She's out there, alive and hopefully well, hopefully Nora as well... I guess there's no point worrying on it untill we reach Mistral and look around for them-' his thoughts stopped as he groaned, once again fighting against his stomach, whining to himself and muttering, annoyed, about his stupid motion sickness, he would remain there for several more hours before he would be capable of returning to the cabin.

In the cabin, Ren sat on his bed with elbows on his legs and hands resting at the sides of his face as he propped his head up with them, chin neatly placed in his palms as he watched the sunset in silence. The golden, red and orange blended into the darkening blue sky beautifully and for a short moment he found some peace staring into the exquisite as he remembered the times where he had shared these moments with the others, usually just with Nora and those nights were always the most comforting after long hard days. The memory was beautiful and he had become so lost to it that he turned his head to look to his side, almost seeing her smiling face looking back at him but there were only boring old wooden walls to be seen and he gave a deep sigh, laying back as he continued to watch the gorgeous view 'it's going to be a long night...' he thought, not finding himself to feel tired, nor did he exactly want to sleep; not wanting to wake from another dream to find out everything that felt real wasn't even there. He would end up dozing off several hours on, not even Jaune coming into the room disturbed him.

-xx-

The rest of their time on the ship was as uneventful as the previous days before, both staying quiet and only chatting slightly every now and then before conversation went dry and they'd end up wandering off around the ship doing their own things but now they were both stood on deck as the ship began to dock. They arrived during the sunrise but even now people were starting to wake and do readying towards their daily jobs. The town seemed colorful and welcoming but it was simply just a small town with a harbour and a long stretch of footpath that lead directly up into Mistral itself, and being unable to wait any longer the pair had decided to jump off the ship and down onto the docks before it had finished stopping fully while confusing several people along the way as they both took off through the streets with a sprinting start and for a change, Jaune was actually keeping up with Ren as his excitement of finally being there took over.

Their eyes scanned everything along the way in hopes of finding any hints or sights of their friends but they would find none as they ran off along the very long and steep footpath where only very few people walked; mainly those with carts delivering resources back and forth between the harbour and the city. It would take them an hour to reach the other side and they stop to catch their breath right outside the city gates which were open ready for travellers and business carts to arrive and leave and the morning noise had started to pick up as they enter and look around, asking anyone if they had seen Nora and Ruby but no one could supply them with the information they needed even as they went deeper into the city. Jaune stops at an information desk area and looked at the city map, having heard the festival would be happening right in the middle of the entire place and that must have been where the news had been broadcasted; is what he was guessing. He looked to Ren before walking away and towards where they needed to be "so... we should probably find an inn at some point" Ren spoke up, sounding distracted as he gazed over the growing sea of people.

Jaune gave a nod of agreement "yes, but we have a lot of places to go around first" he said, also scanning the area around him "everyone we've asked here hasn't seen them... maybe they've been seen deeper in. We can't really start screaming their names, not a good idea to draw that kind of attention to ourselves sadly" he gave a loud sigh "I just hope we'll find some sort of sign soon" he stated and Ren gave a node "yes... but maybe we should split up. We can cover more ground that way" Ren suggested, having already vanished off from jaune's side before the blonde could even agree and the man huffed and walked off 'always in such a rush' he thought, turning his attention back to looking for any familiar faces, colors or even noises. That day had turned up very useless to them as they eventually found an inn to stay at for the night, telling each other what they found and whatever useful things they had heard; which was absolutely nothing and both gave an annoyed sigh at that fact...

The next day had turned up just as useless to them, and so the next... and then the next... and eventually; a week had passed with no sightings or news of their friends.

They were currently seperate again, searching on their own and Jaune was now in the area he had seen the live feed from, currently seeing the news reporter being aired and he instantly started waving towards the camera, hoping that maybe it would bring him some good. They had only just started searching around the middle of the city just that morning and were already getting some information they've been craving to get and now their search had gone to much higher levels and he sat down on a nearby bench with a big sigh, just sat there waiting. He knew that if one of them was watching the news right now they would come to him but what were the chances of that? All they had right now was only small hints and tips of people who had similar hair and eyes; having only come across few people with that description but none were who they were looking for. He watched the clear blue sky in thought 'that's if they're still here...' he thought, casting his gaze over the bustling city square in hopes of even sighting anyone familiar; staying like this for at least thirty minutes.

He watched the many people walk around with smiles and laughter, children running around while giggling as they play with their friends, people walking their pet dogs, people browsing the market stalls that fill the busy area; it truly was lovely to see so many happy faces and his gaze had stopped dead in it's tracks on the face of a pale skinned woman with red tints to her hair ends with pretty silver eyes staring at him as if to question the reality of what she could see and he stood instantly as the woman started running towards him and pretty much threw herself on him as an almost death like bear hug was now almost strangling him "JAUNE! YOU'RE ALIVE!" her voice squealed out before she broke down into a sobbing mess from pure joy as he got over the shock of such a powerful hold and gave her an equally as firm hug back while giving a small chuckle "yeah... I could say the same for you..." he said, smiling at her when she pulled back, wiping her face free of the happy tears.

"wow you look rough..." she said, giving a small chuckle as she watched him. He looked tired, sleepless nights not helping "yeah... it's... well it's been really rough for us... you think I'm looking rough, wait till you see Ren! He has more black lines under his eyes than me!" Jaune said, trying to at least make light of the topic "REN'S ALIVE?! OH MY GOSH! WE NEED TO FIND HIM!" Ruby screamed out, startling several people nearby who shuffle away with uncomfortable stares at the sudden loudness and Jaune gave a nervous smile to the ones looking while placing his hands on Ruby's shoulders "yeah we'll uh... ah... we'll do that in a little" he said with a nervous chuckle, pulling her along and away from the area so he didn't have to deal with the many stares "he's no where near me right now from what I know, he's following whatever information he can to find... Nora" he started, looking down at saying her name "Ruby... where's Nora?" he asks, looking at her sadly.

Ruby stared at him, seeing how sad he looked and she could only guess that both jaune and Ren had definitely thought they were dead, but his gaze became brighter when Ruby gave him a happy grin "she's fine! but she's not about right now, she had to go and deal with a disturbance down at the docks she's not going to be back until later" she explains, seeing Jaune relax a whole lot more and he shakily sat down, holding his head and rocked back and forth lightly. This made Ruby panic slightly and she dropped down next to him, hugging him close when she heard him starting to sob "we-we... th-thought you guys d-died" he started "we c-couldn't see you... a-all we c-could see w-was the ground breaking away a-and that THING a-aiming your way" he continued, hugging up to Ruby as close as he could "we... we" he stopped, taking a deep breath and tried to calm his trembling body down "the only thing we saw was the end of Magnhild's handle... we honestly thought you were both gone... but then i saw you waving on the live feed news and that started to make everything feel so much more better" he explains, wiping his face free of the tears as his sobbing calmed down.

Ruby listened to him and gave a small, soft smile as he spoke but then her smile faded when he starte to explain the rest "Ren gave up, the moment he thought Nora was dead he just gave up... he's been careless in fights and pays little attention to his safety and he hardly ever speaks a word to me. He's almost gotten himself killed several times and he's slept a lot less than me that's for sure... whenever he does he just ends up waking up from vicious nightmares and the things he sees in those dreams... they're just... horrific... absolutely horrifying and it's really been taking a heavy toll on him the passed few months; seeing things, hearing things, spacing out... and.. and... what if right now is just a dream and-" he was already starting to wind up to sob again but Ruby cupped his face, stopping that dead in it's tracks and she gave a wide, warm smile "it'll be okay now, Jaune" she said calmly as he stared at her.

She moved her hands away and grabbed his hands, pulling him to his feet "it's real, this isn't a dream. Please... calm down, everything's okay" she spoke again and he gave a sigh after a moment or two, pulling her into a hug which she returned "come on, let's go and fine Ren and then find wait for Nora" she spoke up, moving away and grinning while trying to get the current atmosphere to a much cheerful mood and he gave her a smile in return as she waits to follow him "yeah..." he agreed, starting to walk with Ruby at his side "THIS DAY WILL JUST BE THE BEST THING EVER!" Ruby cheered, throwing her fists into the air, making Jaune chuckle and grin brightly "YEAH!" he joined in, both ignoring the questioning stares they were getting as they walked down the streets with their cheerful attitudes and huge grins. They walked for a while before Ruby began to explain how things had been for them; she had explained that Nora had been the worst and had to be kept in sight at all times several times due to her depression kicking in. She explained that the hammer swinging woman had become so silent with little enthusiasm to hardly anything and Jaune felt quite sad about the fact that his liveliest team member had fallen so low.

The one thing that made Jaune want to cry was the fact that he was told Nora had almost actually died several times, having become even more careless with her actions in the heat of battle, along with various nights of thinking the orange haired woman had killed herself when Ruby would return to a locked bathroom door with no response but thankfully she hadn't hurt herself during those events, which relaxed Jaune's nerves slightly but not to its full. Nora just wasn't Nora without the enthusiasm after all, and he was worried of if she would be the same ever again... other than that just how was Ruby coping with all of this? She hadn't really told him about her struggles and he honestly didn't blame here for not wanting to, the topic had become quite dark and both just wanted to have a day where they can be as happy as they could be and to just forget all the stress they had gone through for the passed year.

Near an hour later; they had found no sights or tracks for Ren so they had decided to sit down in a cafe somewhere after deciding to just wait a little. Jaune knew Ren would return to the inn later that night so if he didn't see him at all today he knew he'd find him later so it was no rush to find him right now, and Ruby knew the same for Nora so either way they would all be grouped up within the next day or so and both felt quite excited about that as they sat there and talked lightly to each other about whatever good things they had done or come across within the passed year, both laughing away as Jaune explained the time where Ren had to save a kitten from a tree "and then it pounced on his face and latched it's little claws in and bit down on his nose! That kitten DID NOT like him for some weird reason" Jaune continued, laughing along with Ruby "oh wow! ahaha! poor Ren!" she said "yeah! he spent the rest of the night trying to clean the wounds without wincing, it was kinda funny but really it wasn't... but what else can you do really than to find some amusement in this cute little kitten that has a bad attitude" Jaune responded

"but he got me back! I had the misfortune of being laughed at by him when I fell into a muddy ditch and there was no inn or even any place to bathe for the next four days and I had to walk for all that time covered in mud and then when the mud dried my clothes felt like pieces of board" he said, pausing before laughing slightly when Ruby stared at him before breaking down into an highly amused giggle fit at the poor blondes misfortune of having to walk for so many days with dried mud on him. He gave a warm smile at seeing her breaking down into a fit of giggles, the sound of it was great to his ears and he had missed the sound of it so very much. His smile only widened when she paused to look at him "what...?" she asks, confused at why he was looking at her in such a way "... I've missed you, Ruby. It's nice to hear your laughter again and to just... see you in general" he said and she gave a slightly shy smile but soon grins at him "aw Jaune! I've missed you too! These next few days are just gonna be AMAZING!" she stated, grinning even wider at him and he gave a nod of agreement "yes, yes they are" came his reply.

They would spend the rest of their time here just talking about good times, and good things; both smiling and laughing along with each other and just letting all their stress leave their shoulders and they finally started to feel the heavy weight leaving them while their spirits rose and their moods became the most cheerful that they had become in quite a while and it felt amazing, feeding off of each others energy and joyful mood, making light of silly little things they had gone through which was actually quite embarrassing but why sit there and sulk over it when you can just laugh it off with your friend, it was always better to make light of silly times like those.

-xx-

A few more hours had passed, Ren had slowly made his way back to the docks from whatever information he could find from others and had come across a very wrecked looking market area with people complaining loudly as they picked up their merchandises and tried to fix their stalls, muttering things like "stupid Grimm" or "annoying Beowolf" but what really caught his attention was the stall at the very end of the area where a much older man was angrily muttering to himself "god dammit... why must that hammer, swinging maniac chase it through here!?" the older man looked very unhappy about it, but knew full well that if the Grimm were going to run through places there was little anyone could do to change it's current path other than to kill it "excuse me..." Ren spoke up "what!? Oh... sorry guy, stall is closed until I can get it fixed up" the stall owner spoke, eyeing Ren cautiously "I don't want what you have to offer, sorry... I heard you mention something about a hammer, swinging maniac? Are they by any chance female with orange hair and blue eyes... and wears a pink skirt?" Ren asks and the stall owner stopped for a few moments while staring at him but then thought "yeah! Not sure about the eyes though... she was moving far too fast for me to even see her eyes or her face for that matter but she chased that damned Beowolf off into the forest- er SIR! There's a King Taijitu lurking out there- sir?!"

As much as the stall owner called out, Ren paid no more attention to him even though he heard everything they had said. The moment the older male confirmed what he wanted to know he had instantly started walking away with a hasted speed and was now almost running into the forest, leaving a confused and still rather angry stall owner behind to deal with his broken stall 'please tell me it's her this time...' Ren thought as he eyed everything around him as he roamed around the forest for any signs of the one person that could fix everything in his head, take away all of his stress, and to find some very comfort around. He found no signs of any hammer related damage around him, guessing she must have chased the Grimm much farther in but stopped when he saw paw prints on the ground along with shoe prints 'this way...' he thought, following after the sloppy prints that darted around everywhere until they stopped at a river where the tracks ended with a medium sized dent in the ground which he could only think of as the hammer named Magnhild crushing the poor Beowolf's head.

His eyes scan the surroundings and saw nothing, walking along the river side for any more signs before stopping in his tracks to loud commotion some distance away and he instantly started running in that direction 'her? maybe? sounds like the Taijitu as well...' he thought, knowing it would take him a little while to get there judging by how far away the loud noises were coming from but he knew that if there was any chance of the cause being Nora... then he'd take it.

The noise was definitely Nora, she was currently fighting the black side of the King Taijitu, while the other one was currently no where near so she was guessing maybe it was already dead. She had heard that there was a pair of them lurking around but she had no idea where the second one was. Although she wasn't used to fighting things like this particular Grimm she managed with great efficiency; jumping away from strikes, avoiding being constricted and using the trees to her advantage as she used her grenades to confuse and blind the large snake before she jumped from the tree and then slammed Magnhild down on any part of it's body that she could get during it's fast and twisting movements; each power filled contact made with the hammer on it's body made is hiss and screech loudly into the air as it faught back against the woman while she charged up the head of the hammer with electricity while slamming it down onto the snakes body once more before quickly swinging upwards with enough force to throw the Taijitu into the air with her before swinging forewards in a front flip and slimming back down to the ground, earning a spine chilling screech from the Grimm as a sickening crunch sounded; signalling she had smashed it's back into shards.

Panting slightly from the effort she lifts up the hammer and quickly slammed it down on the paralysed Grimm's head, killing it instantly on contact before slumping down to her backside with a loud huff; catching her breath for several moments before shakily standing and closing Magnhild, putting it back on it's holder at her lower back before walking away from the smoking body with an annoyed grumble "stupid snake, can't even just sit around and just be alone to relax but nooooooo it has to just come slithering on in and ruin all that peace!" she muttered, hands balling into fists as she stormed off from the area like a grumpy child who had just been denied something. If only she knew who was almost there...with another loud huff she walked far enough to reach the river which was at a least five minutes walk away from the fading Grimm's body and she slumped down, watching the sky silently as she calmed her temper down 'stupid Grimm ruining the peace, can't even sit here and just enjoy the sky' she thought, slightly annoyed but her thoughts were interupted when she heard thrashing from the other Taijitu and then... gunfire that had a unique sound to it, making her brow furrow as she thought 'wait... am i hearing things now?' she thought, standing and climbing to the trees before jumping off along the branches back to where the sound was coming from... stopping at a safe distance when she saw the other Taijitu which currently looked very tired from the violent fight... 'no... it must be a dream... right? Slashes... bullet holes... but that's... that's... his...' she thought, confused and then she saw him; flying from a tree at deadly speeds towards the beasts head in a spinning based attack which looked bright green.

Ren had just arrived to where he heard the commotion moments before, seeing the Grimm body almost fully faded away and a lot of turned up trees, dirt and rocks and he sighed, seeing no person there so he looked around for any evidence of who could have killed the giant snake; finding everything he needed to know as he picked up an empty grenade tube and seeing many holes from where the strike of her hammer had missed 'it's her... she's here, but where?!' he thought, wanting to call out for her but within that moment before he could he had to jump out of the way of a strike from the white side of the Taijitu 'a second Taijitu!?' he thought, seeing that this one wasn;t using it's black side; it looked lame and possibly paralysed but not by Nora's weapon... this one had large gashes on it from a blade of some sorts on it. With a low annoyed grunt he pulled out Stormflower and started shooting as he ran around to avoid the thrashing serpent, slashing at it's face whenever it struck while he moved out of the way before it could get him, springing out of the way once more and onto a tall rock before jumping off of that onto the beasts back, digging the blade down into it and holding on tight as it began to twist and throw itself around in attempt to get him off.

He kept a strong grip on his weapons during the thrashing, pulling the blades out and spinning away, landing on the ground with a barrel roll and he was instantly on his feet, running around it in a circle formation while shooting mainly at it's face; aiming to get it in the eyes. The Taijitu let out a howling screech as one of it's eyes was blinded by the bullets; sending it into an even more aggressive rage as it's thrashing became loud and noisy and filled the area with even louder aggression than the Taijitu before it had made. With a grunt he was hit in the side of the snakes head and sent stumbling backwards with enough force to knock him down but he was quickly back to his feet again before jumping out of the way to avoid another strike from the massive Grimm which only become more and more aggressive with each strike that missed and it began to stop striking, rising it's front up like that of a cobra and hissing loudly at him, taking a defencive position and Ren became more alert... he knew it would be harder to get near it now.

He observed it closely, noticing that the other head was struggling to even rise itself up off the floor and it's jaw no longer worked but it was hissing loudly at him. He could see the white side protecting the black side with the thickest girth of its body and thought to himself that if he could get to that head and destroy it first; he'd have a better chance of killing the Grimm faster. As if reading his mind, the white Taijitu struck at him with deadly speed over and over, forcing him to jump and flip out of the way and he instantly began using it to his advantage by jumping onto it's head after the seventh strike before jumping off and down onto the black head, digging the blades of his weapon into it's skull which earned a screech from both heads and the violent thrashing and twisting began once more, throwing him around like a ragdoll as he held onto his weapons for dear life, seeing the white side coming in for a killing blow.

Using this to his advantage as well, he quickly pulled the blades out and jumped off the black head at the last second, running down it's neck and jumped out of view into the trees to catch his breath as he tried to think of a quick plan to get near the white head. The blow had killed the black side and the white side gave out an even more spine chilling screech as it drew back and thrashed around more before stopping and flickering its tongue in the air as it hisses and growls loudly, it's body was all cut up from the fight and it's other side was now dead and created a heavy weakness for the white side, magenta eyes scanned it's current condition while thinking 'it's out of breath...' he thought, but he was cautious for it could be a trick the Grimm was playing to draw him out. With a low, annoyed grunt he focused his thoughts, walking along the branch as he saw the Grimm beginning to turn in attempt to get away from the area and Ren was having none of that.

Jumping from the branch at high speed he gave an annoyed yell at the Grimm which now turned it's attention back to him with a hiss, but it was too late... it was struck at the neck with Stormflower's blades at a spinning speed fast enough to cut clean through it, body slumping down to the ground with a loud crash as Ren jumped away and out of range of possibly being crushed before watching for a few moments; placing the weapons in their holders before letting out heavy breaths as he sat down shakily for a moment to regain his energy 'finally... it's over...' he thought, the panting breaths become less as he observed the heavily damaged area while the Grimms body faded into nothingness. The next sounds he heard were the birds finally beginning to chirp again once the commotion had finally vanished and the sounds of the chirping melody was very refreshing, far better than that of the screeches of the Grimm that's for sure.

With a light sigh he remained here for several moments, enjoying the peace and the melody of the song birds filling the air, watching the area in thought as he lets his nerves settle from the vicious fight with the Taijitu 'I swear it... those things just get more aggressive every time I fight one...' he thought, watching the body of the giant snake fading away as he listened to the singing of the birds, finding peace for a few short moments before looking at his feet in a sad way as he thought more 'she's probably nowhere near here by now... probably ran off to the next Grimm. My current chances of even finding her are getting lower and lower' he continued to thought but grits his teeth and huffed, trying to get his thoughts on track in attempt to keep away the bad feeling and negative thoughts for a little while longer.

Nora was watching from a nearby tree, completely hidden and she stared directly at him 'it's a drea,... it has to be IT'S A DREAM! This... it's not real... right? Please tell me it's real!' she thought, finding it impossible to even move, she was frozen in place as she stared with many mixed emotions to her eyes. She eventually began to accept the thought that both Ren and Jaune were dead, and the thoughts of that made it almost impossible for her to even believe what she could see right now but that fight was very real... if she were dreaming it must have been one hell of a dream that's for sure. She slowly started walking along the branches, jumping over to the next ones with ease while keeping herself silent as she got much closer, stopping at the branches above him.

She watched him standing slowly as he looked around, seeing how much paler he looked... noticing the thick black lines under his eyes... 'wow he looks rough' she thought, still cautious on if this was reality or just a cruel dream 'but he looks so real this time... everything about this feels so real...' she continued to think, almost forgetting how to breath from what she heard next. Ren scanned the area calmly before looking at another empty grenade shell before sighing slightly and called out "Nora!?" his voice rang loud in the almost quiet air and Nora was finding herself unable to move again, that definitely sounded real enough for her and her cautious expression slowly faded into a happy smile as she slowly crouched down onto the branch and carefully sat down before moving backwards slowly, her legs holding her on the branch and she was now head level with him, but from behind.

She waited until he would catch on, watching him scan the area in front of him with slouched shoulders before he suddenly straightened up which she was guessing signalled that he had sensed her behind him. Slowly turning around his eyes widen as he was now staring into the beautiful sky blue eyes of a smiling Nora who let her arms dangle freely. He stared at her as if to question the reality in front of him 'illusion, maybe...? Those things have become a thing as of late after all but... this time it feels... different' he thought. They both stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before he was shaken out of his stupor roughly in surprise of her finger tip flicking upwards under his nose tip "boop!" her voice rang out, full of great excitement and pure joy as her pretty eyes began to fill with tears, but not tears of sadness this time.

Little did they know... nor sense for that matter; lurking in the trees nearby a shaded figure was watching them, face hidden away by a thick black hood of a hoodie with a wolg head symbol on the back of it and a long tail idly twitching behind them as they observe the pair silently. They had tracked the Taijitu here, having remained out of sight and out of view as the entire fight happened, understanding that Ren was quite capable in a fight but also knew that this was something they should not interupt with so they silently turned away and vanished off into the woods without a sound, having better things to do than to watch whatever sort of overly joyous moment the pair would enter. A single red eye watched the scenery ahead from under the hood as they moved along the woods like a phantom, leaving no trace or even any sound while the tail helped them keep their balance. Friend... or Foe...? Who knows...

The Faunus jumped from branch to branch with complete ease, eyeing the Grimm below that turn their heads and follow after like a moth to a flame. With a sigh the figure jumped down into a clearing, the area was dark other than for slight glimpses of light filtering through the tree tops that had a thick canopy and the eerie red glow of the Grims eyes and faces as they snarl and growl as they surround the figure we reached behind their back to pull a stick from it's holder, which then slowly spred out into a long staff before the ends form into a thin and thick scythe shaped blade, the red eye under the hood scanned the number of Grimm that surrounded them before jumping into the air as the pack of Beowolf lunge towards them, spinning in the air and crashing down onto several with the larger and thicker end of the weapon before starting to spin it around like a normal staff; carving up the pack with ease before making an annoyed grunting sound before walking off from the pathetically slumped and very cut up bodies of the fading pack... whoever the figure was; they were not to be taken very lightly. Their use of the weapon would prove highly fatal to anyone getting on the wrong side of it...

-xx-

OKAY! Little hint there of a new character, they're my OC (Own Character) but won't be making a full appearance until much later into the story. Sorry to just cut it off short when things were just about to get really could for Ren and Nora but... why put it in this chapter when I can put all the fluff into chapter 3?

Sorry if this chapter wasn't all that exciting, and probably sad and such but oh well, some good things for the next chapter, hoping to get a lot of Renora time in there for you guys. Sorry if it's taking me so long to publish, but I need more ideas for chapter 3 so... please be patient! (Chapter 3 will arrive eventually)


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